


Free Falling

by exonomics



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 02:16:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7994995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exonomics/pseuds/exonomics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skydiving is a lot like falling in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free Falling

**Author's Note:**

> 2nd place winner a Baekyeol / Chanbaek writing contest. Originally posted on September 16, 2013.
> 
> But remember kids, if at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you!

At 13,000 feet he will fall an average of 115 miles per hour for about a minute before the parachute must be deployed at around 2,600 feet in order to land safely on the ground but if for some reason his instructor takes to long to open the parachute the force of terminal velocity would surely rip their parachutes to shreds sending both diver and instructor to their deaths in less than a minute though from their altitude and the force of their fall the landing should be relatively painless and that gives Chanyeol a little bit of comfort knowing that he won’t have to experience any pain when he dies and-

_Holy fucking shit I can’t do this._

He turns on his heels, ready to make a break for the door and the safety of the car that has no intentions of leaving the ground, but Baekhyun, with a surprising amount of strength for one of his size, catches the taller by the collar of his shirt.

“Oh no you don’t,” he playfully growls, “You promised.”

Yes, damn it all, Chanyeol did promise.

And yes, Baekhyun kept him to that promise.

But how can you hold it against him when he promised at three in the morning after five movie marathons, four bottles of beer and two and a half rounds of sex? Chanyeol likes to think himself a man with an iron will and steadfast determination, but Baekhyun can be very convincing (especially while naked and groaning on top of him, but that’s neither here nor there). 

So now because his dick has the tendency to rule over his brain while his boyfriend seduces him, Park Chanyeol, rising college senior and part time waiter serving rip-off McDonalds’ burgers, will be falling to his death this afternoon by jumping out of a plane.

All he asks for is Baekhyun to survive and remember to feed his fish while he’s gone.

 

_______

 

 

(( _Two Months Earlier_ ))

“ _F-fuck_ ,” Chanyeol groans through his teeth as he’s pushed down on his back, Baekhyun already palming his softening cock, tongue dragging across his chest. “How much more can you _take_?” The last part of his sentence is caught in his throat as his sexy vixen of a boyfriend takes a nipple in his mouth. His pretty little fingers wrap around his shaft, gently stroking up and down.

“Four beers worth’s,” is Baekhyun’s reply, hot breath tickling Chanyeol’s skin and warm hands working their magic, making the taller hard and aching without much effort; anything Baekhyun does is a turn on, and having the smaller throw Chanyeol around and take charge sends waves of pleasure coursing through his body.

Deeming Chanyeol hard enough for his liking, Baekhyun kisses down Chanyeol’s chest until he hits his cock, opting to drag his tongue up and down the shaft as a way of lubrication. Any other time it would not be enough, but seeing as not even an hour ago Chanyeol took ample time to prepare the elder on his fingers and only a few moments earlier Chanyeol had released hard inside of him, taking the time to properly prepare seemed a waste of time and effort. Besides, Baekhyun can’t get enough of Chanyeol’s taste.

Chanyeol ropes his fingers through his lover’s brown hair, tugging the way he knows Baekhyun likes and rolling his hips when Baekhyun takes his head into his mouth. “You like that, _hmmm_?” Baekhyun hums, sending electric waves up Chanyeol’s body. He screws his eyes shut, head lolling back as he gasps at the sudden spike of pleasure.

“ _Yes_ ,” Chaneyol hisses through his teeth as Baekhyun hums again, the latter obviously not satisfied with being ignored. The former tightens his grip on Baekhyun’s hair, pulling just a bit rougher to roll his hips again. This time Baekhyun takes him all the way down, Chanyeol’s cock hitting the back of Baekhyun’s throat and Chanyeol _screams,_ hands quick in pulling his lover off of him, not wanting to cum before he’s buried deep inside of Baekhyun.

The latter seems to understand as he crawls back up Chanyeol’s body, meeting him eye level. Baekhyun’s eyes are full of lust and a twinkle of something Chanyeol can’t place, but his mind is turned elsewhere when Baekhyun grinds his hips against the man underneath him.

Baekhyun leans in close, breath tickling Chanyeol’s ear. “ _You want this_?” he breathes, voice dripping with lust and want and everything Chanyeol needs right now.

“ _Yes_ ,” Chanyeol says, gripping Baekhyun’s hips to guide them into his and onto Cloud Nine. His eyes roll back and he leans against the headboard, blocking out everything that isn’t _Baekhyun._

He’s too caught up in the pleasure of his lover’s hips on his that he doesn’t notice the other’s mischievous smirk appearing on his lips. 

“What would you do for it, _hmmm_?” Baekhyun whispers, lifting his hips up and away from Chanyeol’s touch. The younger practically growls as he tries to reconnect their hips, but Baekhyun is having none of that until he answers. “Would you do _anything_ I asked?”

Chanyeol grunts a reply, lifting _his_ hips up to try to get the friction he craves that his boyfriend seems to be denying him.

Baekhyun takes this as an affirmative and pushes Chanyeol back down to the mattress, leaning back towards the latter’s ear and intimately sucking underneath the lobe. Chanyeol keens in response, breathing out heavily, “B-Baek, _please_ —“

“Go skydiving with me,” Baekhyun whispers, rolling his hips down hard for added effect. Chanyeol doesn’t have the mental capacity at the moment to filter out Baekhyun’s words, he just groans from the back of his throat and grips his boyfriend’s hips harder.

“ _Yes_ , _yes anything_ , whatever you want, now _please_ —“

Baekhyun smiles to himself at a job well done, whispering, “ _I’ll keep you to our promise, then_ ,” and lowering himself onto Chanyeol’s cock.

His head snaps back in pleasure.

 

_______

 

 

“I still can’t believe you used sex to get me wrapped into this.”

“Oh shut up, you fucking loved it.”

Chanyeol can’t really argue with that.

He _can_ argue, though, that any activity that requires you to sign an agreement that the airline and all of its employees are not responsible for any accidents or deaths that can occur during the flight and the subsequent jump should be deemed illegal and fucking idiotic.

He’s about to get up and try to make another break for the door, but Baekhyun coughs rather loudly next to him and scolds him with his eyes. Not that furrowing his eyebrows and pouting his lips looks all that intimidating, it actually makes the shorter look more delectable with his flushed cheeks and heavy eyeliner, and Chanyeol feels a whole other problem beginning to form in his pants (Baekhyun would argue that the former is insatiable, but he loves how horny Chanyeol gets a little more than he should so he chooses to hold his tongue).

“Stop being a baby, you’re embarrassing me,” Baekhyun says quietly, not wanting to disturb the rest of the group in the small waiting room.

There are five other people waiting with them: a middle aged man and woman sitting in the far off corner, wearing couple shirts reading “10 Years, Fighting!” printed across the chest, no doubt celebrating a marriage anniversary. There is a younger pair sitting next to the older couple who are dressed casually, but Chanyeol notices the numerous patches decorating the man’s jacket and a neon orange wristband on the woman and makes the assumption these two have done this before. That leaves another man sitting directly across from Chaneyol and Baekhyun. He looks older than the two, maybe late twenties; he’s wearing jeans and a loose tee shirt, a pair of boots, and the creepiest smile Chanyeol has seen on a man when the two make eye contact. The man gives Chanyeol a thorough once over before giving him a flirty wink.

Chanyeol dives behind the safety manual all jumpers were given on the way inside the building, hissing, “I hope you realize we’re jumping with a fucking pervert!” to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun chuckles, peeking over the manual Chanyeol shoved in his face, “Oh come on, I’m sure he’s not- _HOLY SHIT_!” he squeals, burying his face into Chanyeol’s shoulder to muffle his laughter.

“I told you,” Chanyeol mumbles, sneaking another peek at the man, who now is flashing his teeth in what probably is meant to be a seductive smile, but is coming out more constipated in appearance. Chanyeol is definitely contemplating bailing out while he still has his life and innocence.

Or what’s left of it, anyway. His innocence, he means. Chanyeol hasn’t really been innocent as of late thanks to the small man laughing into his shoulder, which is a whole other story in itself.

Said small man lets out a sigh and cautiously wipes his eyes, not wanting to smudge the eyeliner he did this morning.

 

( “Baek, I thought you were taking me to jump out of a plane.”

“Yeah, why?”

“Is eyeliner that necessary?”

“Well, if I do die then at least I’ll look good at my funeral.”

“Fuck you.” )

 

“Oh God, my stomach hurts,” Baekhyun gasps, wiping his fingers wet from the tears in his eyes on Chanyeol’s shirt.

Chanyeol frowns. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m in love with you…” he mumbles, trying to wipe away the new wet stain. He looks over to Baekhyun with a scowl, because he’s pretty sure his shirt is ruined, but is greeted with a large smile from the other, eyes crinkling into little moons.

“Twenty-seven cents,” he says, without missing a beat.

Oh yes, twenty-seven cents.

Chanyeol is just about to open his mouth and make some sort of retort, but the door at the opposite side of the room opens and a man dressed in the most ridiculous looking bright red jumpsuit walks in, and announces the plane is ready for take-off.

Chanyeol doesn’t have time to react before Baekhyun darts up from his seat and drags him across the room, far to excited to hear the taller’s protests.

 

_______

 

 

(( _Fifteen Months Earlier_ ))

“You still owe 27 cents, kid,” the burly man behind the counter says.

Chanyeol frowns at the screen. “But I thought I had over seven dollars left, not six fifty-two.” The cashier simply huffs, not giving any fucks.

Chanyeol doesn’t have time for this shit, he has a fucking calculus report due the next day that he has neglected to start (in his defense his roommate Jongin has been kicking Chanyeol out of their room to hook-up with his newest flame, leaving Chanyeol to sleep on the floor of his friend Jongdae and waking up cranky and not in the mood for integrations).  He glares once more at the screen, willing it to change into no money owed.

“Kid, it’s not gonna change. You owe 27 cents.”

_Well fuck you, too._

Chanyeol sighs and reaches around in his pockets, trying to find some loose change to hand over. Except he comes up bare, now remembering he left his wallet back in his dorm since he assumed he had enough money to pay for his gross lunch of week old lunch meat and stale chips.

_Fuck._

He looks up in horror at the cashier, then at the irritated line of students waiting behind him. “Get moving, Park!” one of the students towards the back of the line yells, and others mumble their agreement.

Chanyeol doesn’t know how to react in fear of a riot on his hands, and just stands there like an idiot waiting for something magical to happen because he doesn’t know what the fuck to do-

And then a brass voice calls out, “I’ve got 27 cents!”

Chanyeol looks dumbfounded at the small (well, everyone’s small to Chanyeol) boy making his way up the line. The line cheers as the boy pulls the money out of his pocket and hands it over to the cashier, who looks relived that he no longer has to deal with Chanyeol’s shit.

The boy next to him giggles, _giggles_ , and then begins to walk away. Chanyeol watches him for a full seventeen seconds before chasing after him.

“H-hey!” he calls after him. He’s too busy running after this magic boy with pockets full of change that Chanyeol not so daintily trips over a few stairs and lands on his ass, his fucking six dollar and seventy nine cent lunch spreading across the floor.

The magical boy laughs at his misfortune, before giving him a goofy smile. “You’re funny,” he announces, sticking out a hand for Chanyeol to grab.

Now Chanyeol’s never believed in “love at first sight” or “soul mates” or any of that cheesy shit, but he can’t deny that _something_ happens when he reaches out and grabs the boy’s hand and hoists himself up. The boy had dark brown hair, perfectly styled off his forehead to show dramatic eyes lined with make-up. He was still smiling, cheeks rosy and flushed as he slightly bows to Chaneyol.

“I’m Baekhyun,” he says, and Chanyeol knew he was done.

 

_____ __

 

 

It takes 45 minutes of wrestling with a bright red jumpsuit for the staff to figure out that Chanyeol isn’t exactly average height for a Korean male. Most of the suits in the storage room are “one size fits all” and are not made for men that happen to be 185 cm.

Baekhyun is still laughing at the thought of Chanyeol trying to fit inside the jumpsuit. At least _someone_ is enjoying this.

“You could have helped me, asshole,” Chanyeol hisses.

Baekhyun snorts. “And miss an opportunity to get a video of you stuck in a jumpsuit for twenty minutes? Hell no,” he waves his camera in Chanyeol’s face with an impish grin, “I’m sending this shit in to _Funniest Home Videos_.”

Chanyeol glares. “Do it and I’ll tackle you to the floor.”

Baekhyun replies with a sly smile and a cheeky rise of his eyebrow. “Tackle me. Please.”

Chanyeol’s between smacking the elder upside the head and bending him over the bench in the middle of the room when one of the pilots walk in bearing a rather large and obnoxious neon orange jumpsuit and hands it to him. “This one should fit!” the man says, a little too cheery if you asked Chanyeol, who was hoping the airline had run out of large suits and wouldn’t allow him to jump. He mumbles a nearly incoherent “thanks,” before struggling with this new suit. He chooses to ignore Baekhyun’s giggles behind him.

“There you go, all set,” the pilot approves, giving Chanyeol a quick once-over when the suit is successfully worn. “You two can go join the others now.”

_Shit._

The man laughs. “Nervous, are you?”

“Am I that obvious?”

“You look like you’re on your way to a funeral.

“I am. Mine.”

The man chuckles again, followed by Baekhyun’s familiar laugh. It’s good to know that at least Chanyeol is the only sane one in the room.

“Don’t worry,” the pilot says, slapping Chanyeol encouragingly on the back, “In my thirty years of flying, we have never dropped a jumper.”

“It’s not the jump I’m worried about…” Chanyeol mutters, not daring to look at the man, and instead chooses to divert his gaze on a loose string in his jumper.

“Not afraid of the jump? In it for the thrill then?” the pilot asks.

“Nope,” Baekhyun chimes in, wrapping an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulders, “He’s jumping because he’s afraid of heights.”

_Afraid of heights._

_Acrophobia_ _._

_The fear of being 13,000 off the fucking ground and then jumping out of a fucking plane while you watch as you fall all the way down to the ground._

The pilot chuckles again. “Well kid, I gotta say that you’re at the wrong place if you’re afraid of heights.”

“But how will he overcome his fears if he doesn’t try something like this?” Baekhyun replies, arm tightening around Chanyeol’s shoulder in encouragement. “Right?”

The pilot shrugs. “I suppose the best way to get over something is to face it head on. Almost like scaring the fear out of you-“

An alarm on his watch goes off, interrupting his sentence. “That’s 4:00 o’clock! Time to get this show on the road!” He slaps Chanyeol’s shoulder as we walks past the boys out of the room.

Chanyeol looks down at Baekhyun. “If I live through this, you’re paying for my therapy.”

Baekhyun responds with a roll of his eyes and a slap on Chanyeol’s ass.

 

_______

 

 

(( _Six Months Earlier_ ))

Chanyeol can’t help but blush as Baekhyun laughs at him. “It’s not funny…” he mumbles, eyeing his boyfriend leaning against his desk for support.

Baekhyun continues to chuckle. “Chanyeol, your like six feet tall and tower over everyone you meet. It’s kind of funny you’re afraid of heights.”

Chanyeol mumbles something unflattering under his breath and pulls the covers of his bed up over his head in an attempt to drown out the laughing.

Yes, 185 cm tall Chanyeol is afraid of heights. He has been ever since second grade when he was on top of the jungle gym and was almost pushed off by his childhood friend Sehun. He remembers flailing his arms and looking _down down down_ at the ground below him and screaming because he thought he was going to fall and crash and die and it was pretty fucking scarring for an eight year old, okay. Sometimes Chanyeol is too frightened to attend roof parties during weekends at school, sometimes he can’t even stand to look out of the window of his parents’ apartment on the 11 th floor. It’s almost embarrassing, but Chanyeol can’t deny that being off the safety of the ground scares him senseless.

He huffs in annoyance. He knew he shouldn’t have told Baekhyun. The elder had asked Chanyeol if he was afraid of anything out of the blue, out of sheer curiosity.

“I’m afraid of water,” Baekhyun had said, which had surprised Chanyeol a bit, since Baekhyun had always talked about going to Jeju Province during vacations, but Baekhyun shook his head and explained, “I like going for the sand and the sun, but I won’t go in the ocean past my feet.” Apparently Baekhyun almost drowned in a community pool when he was five, and hasn’t stepped into any body of water bigger than a tub since.

This made Chanyeol feel even sillier, as Baekhyun had a legitimate excuse for his fear while all Chanyeol had was Oh Sehun and a seven foot high jungle gym.

“ _Yeobo_ …” Chanyeol feels the bed dip and arms wrap around his torso. He huffs again and buries himself further into the comforter.

Baekhyun snuggles closer, attempting to affectionately nuzzle Chanyeol’s neck through the comforter, but only getting a cold shoulder…literally. Baekhyun grumbles something under his breath that Chanyeol doesn’t catch and feels the smaller male get up off of the bed. For a few seconds, Chanyeol frowns over Baekhyun not trying harder to make him feel better.

But his thoughts quickly leave his mind when he feels Baekhyun jump on top of him, one hand pulling the cover away from Chanyeol while the other reaches underneath, finding Chanyeol’s weak points and tickling them, leaving the taller man breathless in a matter of moments. As Chanyeol fights to get away from Baekhyun’s hands, he somehow rolls a little too far and sends both of them tumbling off the bed on onto the floor, with someone letting out a rather unmanly screech (Chanyeol insists it was Baekhyun, but Baekhyun claims his voice isn’t that shrill or deep). Baekhyun ends up underneath him, a little tied up in the covers and somewhat pinned down by Chanyeol. Chanyeol is sure he looks foolish, hair sticking up at odd angles and shirt halfway up his chest. But Baekhyun laughs at their misfortune, and Chanyeol follows after before the elder pulls Chanyeol down for a kiss and whispers, “ _I love you_ ,” into his ear.

They end up naked in a matter of moments and spend the day exploring each other’s bodies for the first time, making love until Chanyeol’s roommate Jongin is pounding on the door, demanding to be let in.

 

_______

 

 

“Attention divers, please remember to check the seatbelts of our passengers and report to the pilot once finished. We will be taking off momentarily.”

It really hasn’t hit Chanyeol that he’s about to be in the air in a few minutes.

He’s never been on a plane before; his family never traveled outside of Korea, and if Chanyeol got even close to a plane he would surely have a panic attack knowing that he’d be thousands of feet of the ground, so he really didn’t know what to expect.

Baekhyun is sitting next to him, almost bouncing in his seat in excitement. “This is going to be so much fun!” he squeals, taking a peak out of the small window next to his seat. “Fun” isn’t exactly the word Chanyeol would use; lethal seems much more appropriate for this kind of activity. He nervously fumbles his fingers in his lap, needing something to do or else he risks ripping of his seatbelt and crawling out of the plane.

He does so for about a minute before he feels a hand touch his knee. Chanyeol jumps, no expecting the touch. Baekhyun flinches next to him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” he says, placing his hand back on Chanyeol’s knee. He gently rubs it, hands delicately tracing patterns through the jumpsuit. It’s a little habit Baekhyun’s picked up through the year they’ve been together. Whenever he’s nervous or excited, Baekhyun will gently move his fingers against Chanyeol, usually his hand, sometimes his arm, now his knee. And Chanyeol loves it. A little reminder than Baekhyun is there with him.

Baekhyun leans his head against Chanyeol’s shoulder, softly sighing and moving his hand up to interlock with Chanyeol’s. This calms Chanyeol down a bit, heart no longer racing with adrenaline and fear. He smiles down at his boyfriend and leans his head down to rest on Baekhyun.

A loud cough turns his attention to the married couple eyeing him disapprovingly.

Out of habit, Chanyeol retracts his hand from Baekhyun’s and sits straight up in his seat, mimicking a child who’s being scolded by his parents. Chanyeol is still not used to being so intimate with another person, especially while in public and around others who always make judgments towards him and Baekhyun being together.

He hears Baekhyun sigh next to him, and Chanyeol almost feels guilty over his actions. Baekhyun has always been more comfortable with their relationship, being a little too touchy with Chanyeol at coffees shops or never faltering when older generations watch with revulsion. He’s always been accepting of his sexuality and Chanyeol envies him for it.

If only he were that brave.

"Sorry..." Chanyeol mumbles, but to whom it was aimed to was left up in the air. The married couple turn their gazes away, and Baekhyun just crosses his arms over his chest in annoyance. 

The air is thick and tense as the other jumpers are now looking over at the two youngest, some looking with curiosity, others rolling their eyes and ignoring the ordeal. Chanyeol wishes his seat would eat him up and save him from the unwanted attention.

Luckily for him, the pilot comes up on the loudspeaker, announcing they are ready for takeoff and Chanyeol feels sick all over again.

 

_______

 

 

(( _Nine Months Earlier_ ))

Chanyeol chokes on his coffee. "I'm _s-sorry_?" he gasps, not believing that Baekhyun would acctually suggest meeting his parents.

Baekhyun shurgs his shoulders. "We've been dating for over five months now, and I think we should start taking things seriously."

Chanyeol frowns. "I thought we were taking things seriously," (If, of course, seriously meant still getting butterflies every time Baekhyun's name appeared on his phone, then yeah, things were serious).

"We have," Baekhyun rolls his eyes at Chanyeol's pout, "But...this is my longest relationship and I really like you." He smiles. "I want to see where this will take us."

Chanyeol decides Baekhyun's cheesy sweet talk is his second favorite thing about him, right after his doorky laugh. He sighs and rolls his head back on his chair. "My parents still don't know I'm gay."

"Now's probably a good time to tell them," Baekhyun teases, but there's an edge to his voice that Chanyeol picks up.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

Baekhyun sighs and looks down at his coffee. "It's just that-" he bites his lips, something he does a lot of when nervous, Chanyeol picks up, "-I want us to be completely honest and open with each other."

"Which we are," Chanyeol points out.

"Yes, but...how can I completely trust you to be faithful to this relationship when you're afraid to tell your parents about us?"

Chanyeol's a bit offended by the question. "I can be faithful without telling my parents!" he insists. "Why do they have to be a part of our relationship?" 

"Because I don't want to sneak around or lie about who I am and all the shit that comes along with not being honest. I want everything about us to be genuine, and if you can't be honest with your _parents_ , how can I know you'll be honest with me?"

It takes a moment for Chanyeol to respond, taken aback by the issue that's now on their plate. Chanyeol's parents aren't the most accepting of people; his mother is a bit old-fashioned and his father a bit strict and stern. He's heard what they've said about homosexual couples walking around Itaewon and Seoul, and it was pretty hard to swallow. He's always lied to them when it came to girlfriends, saying that he's too busy for girls or there are none up to his standards when really he was sneaking around with the neighborhood boys, stealing kisses in closests or stairwells. He's never been open about his sexuality, and liked to keep a low profile when he did hook up with guys. As for his parents... he was hoping to put off telling them until he moved out and began his life on his own.

But by the way Baekhyun is looking at him, Chanyeol guesses that time will come sooner then later. "Baek...I _can't_. My parents know _nothing_ about me. I can't just walk in there announcing I have a boyfriend. I'm sorry..."

Baekhyun opens his mouth to say something back, but he ends up just shaking his head, eyes dropping to the table. "You know what, forget it," he starts gathering his things, pressing his lips into a thin line. "Forget I said anything." 

Chanyeol panics. "B-baek, please-" Baekhyun stands up and walks past Chanyeol towards the door to the café. "Wait!" Chanyeol calls, but the door slams shut before his words can reach Baekhyun.

Chanyeol spends the rest of the day moping in his room, eyes tearing at the thought of making Baekhyun so upset. He doesn't know if he should call or attempt to talk to him, but he needs to do _something_ because he absolutely refuses to lose Baekhyun over a fight about meeting his fucking parents. He stays in bed thinking of ways to apologize until Jongin pulls his comforter off of him and tells him to get off his ass and get the love of his life back.

So Chanyeol buys a red rose and trecks up to Baekhyun's dorm on the sixth floor of their building. He has a whole speech planned out for forgiveness, but one look at Baekhyun in an over-sized tee shirt and swollen red eyes and Chanyeol forgets everything and kisses Baekhyun with everything he's got. 

"I love you," he says, arms wrapping around Baekhyun's small figure. Baekhyun let's out a mix between a laugh and a sob at the younger's first confession and pulls Chanyeol down for another kiss. 

That weekend Chanyeol takes Baekhyun home with him, to meet his parents. They were upset and angry and confused, but Chanyeol stood tall next to Baekhyun and took it all with stride, refusing to let his parent's threats and curses get to him. 

A few weeks later they ask Chanyeol to go somewhere else for summer break and Baekhyun invites him to live with his family while his parents cool off.

Chanyeol hates not speaking with his parents, but one laugh from Baekhyun and he knows it's worth it.

 

_______

 

 

If it wasn't jumping out of a plane, it would be being strapped and pressed against a man not Baekhyun. 

The take-off had went surprisingly smooth, with Chanyeol holding on to Baekhyun's hand until it turned white the only bump in the road (Chanyeol's personal victory was not shitting his pants, a reoccurring nightmare of his). Once the plane was cruising, the jumpers were instructed to stand and wait for a numper to pair with them. Much to Chanyeol's surprise there was a diver that was almost the same height, and was swiftly strapped in with him.

Now Chanyeol is standing with this guy breathing in his ear and down his neck while eyeing Baekhyun being strapped in, watching every movement of the diver touching his boyfriend. A surge of protectiveness runs through Chanyeol's body; no one should be that close to Baekhyun but him.

He's about to tell off the diver to keep his hands off of his boyfriend when there's a call of "Opening up!" and there's an alarm going off and a hatch is opening and- 

_HOLY SHIT._

_THIS IS FUCKING HIGH._

The cool air encompasses the plane with a _whoosh,_ a sound so loud Chanyeol tries to cover his ears. Clouds are passing through his line of vision and fog his goggles but when he looks away he, stupidly, looks down. 

Thousands of feet of the ground and everything looks so _small._  He can barely make out the hanger and building of the airline off in the distance. All Chanyeol can see is green grass and brown dirt.  

Chanyeol tales in a sharp breath and subconsciously takes a step back from the hatch, but he doesn't get very far with the diver strapped to him. He forgets how to breathe, air getting caught in his throat. His heart begins to pound and knees begin to shake. His vision blurs and his head fogs and he's _scared_ , so scared and he just watches in horror as someone jumps out, falling falling falling down to the ground below and Chanyeol can't bring himself to scream because he still can't seem to remember how to breathe and-

Over the roaring wind and yells of the divers he somehow hears Baekhyun call his name, voice laced with nerves and excitement. Chanyeol tears his eyes away from the hatch to him, wind  blowing his dark hair in every direction and cool air turning his cheeks red and he's smiling, smiling and reaching for Chanyeol's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"I love you!" He yells, loud enough for Chanyeol to hear before he's lead to the edge of the plane. Chanyeol doesn't have time to yell anything back  before Baekhyun jumps. 

 

_______

 

 

(( _Three_   _Months Earlier_ ))

Chanyeol jumps as a pamphlet is slammed onto the table.

Baekhyun has on his signature mischievous smile and Chanyeol just _knows_  this isn't going to be good.

He looks anyway.

The pamphlet is colored bright yellow and red with large, animated fonts and cartoon pictures. But the biggest stand out is the "Drop Zone Skydiving  Lessons" printed on the front.

Chanyeol looks up at Baekhyun. "You're shitting, right?"

Baekhyun shakes his head, "Nope." 

Chanyeol waits for the punchline, since this  obviously has to be a joke; because, _really_ , Chanyeol, who just yesterday had a near panic attack looking out of Baekhyun's dorm window, going skydiving?

Yeah, when Jongin stops bringing his boyfriend back to their room. 

"No really Baek, what's this?"

"What does it look like? I'm taking you skydiving!"

Chanyeol nearly falls out his chair. "Please tell me you're joking," he begs, not wanting this to be a reality. But Baekhyun is laughing and Chanyeol knows he is fucked.

"Remember a few days ago when we were talking about how we could overcome our biggest fears-" _Yeah when they both were shit-faced drunk and unable to form coherent sentences,_ "-well, I thought we should actually do it."

Chanyeol stares at his boyfriend. "Baek, I can't even look out of your _window_ because it's so high off the ground. How the hell do you think I can _skydive_?"

Baekhyun rolls his eyes again and slides into the seat across from Chanyeol. "But don't you want to overcome it? Don't you want to be able to fly...or go to the rooftop parties...or look out a window?"

Well, of course Chanyeol wants to do all those things, and much more. He wants to live his life to the fullest and not be afraid. Baekhyun keeps mention how much he wants to go to Japan or America, but deep down Chanyeol knows he will never go unless Chanyeol is with him...and that would never happen.

At least not yet.

Baekhyun looks at Chanyeol with puppy dog eyes. "I want to be able to go with you to Jeju Island and swim in the ocean. I want to be able to do things together." He gives Chanyeol a small smile. "This is something I think we should do."

_God damn those eyes._

"Baek...I don't know..." Chanyeol looks back down at the pamphlet, staring at a picture of two skydivers in mid-air, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. Skydiving means jumping out of a plane, _thousands of feet_ in the air, with only a parachute keeping you from becoming road kill. It doesn't sound very appealing to Chanyeol. "Why can't we take things slow. Y'know...take me to an amusement park or something?"

"Because I get motion sickness, so I wouldn't be much of a supporter." 

_Dammit._

"Chanyeol-" Baekhyun reaches out to stroke Chanyeol's hand, " _Please_? At least _think_ about it?"

Chanyeol inwardly groans, but mumbles some form of agreement. If it's for Baekhyun, of course he will do it. Think about it, he means. The answer is good enough for Baekhyun, who let's out a little squeal of excitement, then goes on about plans for him to overcome his fear of water, but Chanyeol only half pays attention because he's too caught up in how lovely Baekhyun looks when he's exicted and happy and smiling and-

"You have to promise."

Chanyeol jolts. "What?" he asks, dazed.

"You have to promise." Baekhyun repeats, reaching over with this other hand, pinky out. "You have to promise to do this with me."

Chanyeol eyes him suspiciously. "And what do you promise in return?"

Baekhyun pauses for a moment, biting his lip in thought. If he were to be honest, Chanyeol's hoping for a promise of mind blowing sex or something along those lines, but after a few seconds, Baekhyun simply smiles again. 

"I promise to not let you fall."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol thinks falling in love is a lot like skydiving. You never know what you’re getting yourself into until you’re looking down, realizing how high from the ground you are, how far you’ve come from standing on the ground, how far you’ve come since falling in love. And when you can no longer go higher, you are left with a choice; go back or take the leap.

Going back always seems safer, the easier choice to make. Going back means not taking any chances, not jumping and risking everything you have. Not risking your heart.

But jumping…

Jumping takes guts. It takes bravery and strength. It takes trust and heart and love. It takes putting your faith into something that may not be strong enough to be there for you. If you jump there’s no going back until you’ve hit the ground, sometimes hard enough to break your being.

But Chanyeol knows that when he’s suspended in the air, getting closer and closer to the ground, Baekhyun will be there, catching him when he falls, keeping him from breaking apart. And Chanyeol doesn’t have to worry about jumping multiple times; if things get tough or he feels like throwing everything away, Chanyeol keeps his head up because he knows Baekhyun will always be there for him. He’ll never let Chanyeol fall.

And so he jumps.

 


End file.
